Serena Williams’s comeback announcement has Toronto tour director hopeful for an appearance

Serena Williams celebrates a win over Nuria Parrizas-Diaz of Spain at the 2022 National Bank Open tournament in Toronto. On Monday, Williams announced her return to tennis, saying that she'll play doubles at the Queen's Club Championship next month in London, England.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press

Karl Hale, the long-time director of Toronto’s National Bank Open, is allowing himself to dream about what it could look like if Serena Williams chooses to play in the WTA’s stop in Toronto this August.

The WTA confirmed Monday that the American 23-time Grand Slam champion is returning to pro tennis nearly four years after she stepped away from the sport. She’ll be a wild card in the doubles draw at the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club, with a partner to be named later.

The WTA 500-level grass court tournament at Queen’s Club traditionally serves as a tune-up for Wimbledon – a major where Williams has won seven singles, six doubles and one mixed-doubles title. Yet it remained unclear whether she will play at the All England Club later this month.

Hale finds it unlikely that Williams would put in this much work simply to come back to play doubles in one tournament.

“Serena wouldn’t come back unless she felt she could win,” said Hale. “She doesn’t need the money, she doesn’t need the attention. She wants to come back to see, ‘Can I win again?’”

It has stirred up anticipation about what a comeback could look like for the tennis great, and where she could play next this season.

Williams won the tournament three times in Toronto – in 2001, 2011 and 2013. Toronto’s Sobey’s Stadium sold out in 2022, when Williams played the night after she announced in Vogue she’d be saying goodbye after that year’s U.S. Open. Hale remembers doing 40 interviews that day.

“Serena transcends sport like no other. She’s a global icon. It’s great for tennis and for women’s sport to have her back,” said Hale. “She wouldn’t do this unless she was super fit and ready to play. So she’s not coming out there to be a spectacle. She’s coming out there to be a champion and to win. Everybody’s excited to see how far can she go.”

There was a sign in recent months that the tennis icon was contemplating a return. According to anti-doping rules, returning players must give six months written notice of their intent to come back, and be available to testers for a period of six months before competing. In December 2025, Williams’s name appeared on a list on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s (ITIA) website of players who have registered for the testing pool.

Williams acknowledges the Toronto crowd as she leaves the court following her National Bank Open loss to Belinda Bencic in 2022.Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

The American tennis legend was nearly 41 when she played her last match, an emotional third round loss in New York. At the time she described the departure as “evolving away” from tennis rather than use the word retirement. She now returns at the age of 44, as a mother of two daughters, Olympia (born in 2017) and Adira (born 2023).

“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” said Williams in a statement from the tournament. “Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”

Some reports say she will pair at Queen’s Club with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko. Tennis Canada said it’s aware of the buzz circulating that the two could partner up.

“At this time, we will let Serena make any announcements regarding her plans on her own terms and through her own channels,” said a Tennis Canada spokesperson. “However, we would be as excited as anyone to see the greatest player our sport has ever seen play alongside our top-ranked Canadian woman. And, the mere fact Vicky’s name is being mentioned alongside Serena’s is testament to the incredible progress she has made over the past two years.”

Williams spent 319 weeks as the WTA World No. 1, and won 98 WTA Tour-level titles across her career, which include 73 singles, 23 doubles and two mixed doubles championships. Her 23 Grand Slam titles came over a span of nearly two decades. She also has four Olympic gold medals, one in singles and three in doubles with sister Venus.

Women’s tennis looks different from when Williams left in 2022.

Iga Swiatek already has six Grand Slam singles titles and Aryna Sabalenka owns four, while Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff have two apiece.

On top of tennis, Williams also has a robust business career, from venture capital investments, media production work and sports ownership, including her principal stake in Canada’s freshly launched first WNBA franchise, the Toronto Tempo.

Hale has noted that the Tempo have a home game right before his WTA tennis tournament begins in Toronto – July 30 against the Minnesota Lynx. He hopes the idea of being able to also attend that basketball game could sweeten the idea of Williams playing the NB Open.

“She does love Toronto. She’s a big fan of our city, and she actually holidays here once in a while,” said Hale. “We of course would be very excited for her to come.”